Global Information Systems

This week we investigate the reasons why organizations
increasingly need to consider using global information systems. We also
explore some of the problems associated with trying to have one system
function across many political and cultural boundaries. The outline
presented here is intended to help point out important topics and terms
and is not intended to replace the lecture (or the text).

Objectives

discuss ways of avoiding identity theft (left over from last chapter)

explain the need for global information systems in today's business environment

describe some of the cultural, legal, and other challenges to implementing
global information systems

discuss some of the basic steps that can be taken to make web site more
accessible to an international audience

Avoiding identity theft online

don't let your credit card out of your sight (such as in restaurants)

only shop online at well-known and established companies

try not to do business online with foreign companies if you don't
already have a relationship with them

make sure you are on a secure encrypted connection before entering personal information

don't respond to emails and divulge anything unless you are absolutely sure you know
it is safe

check to make sure the website really has the domain name you expect and not something
slightly different (or a bare IP address)

use antivirus software and keep it updated (it guards against more than just viruses)

free trade agreements make globalization of business more and more likely

the Internet and the Web make global interaction much easier

potential growth on the Internet is enormous; less than 15% of the world's population
regularly used the Internet as of 2005

the Web and Internet also offer the opportunity for large cost reductions over more
traditional ways of doing business

Challenges of Global Information Systems

web sites and other applications which are used multi-nationally must take into
account other cultures and legal requirements, but if they become too generic
they could lose functionality and appeal; the trick is to balance thinking
globally and acting locally; can you create a system general enough to function
well globally, but customizable so localization can be accommodated

one example of thinking globally and acting locally is producing a product that
can be used worldwide, but is advertised and packaged differently for local
markets around the world, sometimes even with slightly different product features

some localities and countries do not have an adequate information technology infrastructure

differences in language are problematic

simple things such as keeping track of addresses and phone numbers can present challenges

regulations on what can be imported and exported cause complexity

safety and quality regulations on what can be sold vary greatly from country to country;
this has been used by Japan to restrict imports; notice that having to overcome an artificial
hurdle disguised as a safety concern is covered by one of the eight ways of gaining
competitive advantage (raising barriers to enter the market)

tariffs, taxes, levies, fees, etc. can be a daunting barrier; often used by countries to
restrict trade even when free trade agreements exist; notice that this is covered by one of
the eight ways of gaining competitive advantage (effectively lowering domestic producers
cost of goods relative to foreign competitors)

payment differences can present problems; most countries are not as willing as we are to use
credit cards online and people may prefer to pick up their parcels at a store

cultural differences can cause major problems; examples given in the text include the use
of certain colors, particular body language and hand gestures, and even the fear that
many cultures have of being "contaminated" by exposure to other cultures

barriers may be erected by governments due to economic interests: many countries have
done this to protect their farmers and keep prices for certain crops artificially high;
this is a main reason why you have corn syrup instead of sugar in soft drinks in the U.S.

barriers may be erected by governments due to scientific interests: scientific advances
often lead to commercial products, often meaning large value for the country producing
those products

barriers may be erected by governments due to security interests: examples from the United
States includes bans on the export of weapons, weapon designs, supercomputers, and
strong encryption programs

barriers may be erected by governments to prevent entrance of Internet activities they
deem improper: pornography, online betting, hate speech, any speech critical of the
government's current viewpoints

barriers may be erected by governments to prevent export of news or other information
via the Internet

differences in laws can present really huge problems on the Internet:

the French don't allow sales of Nazi memorabilia via the Internet

many countries have no concept of free speech

who is in charge of protecting the consumer across national boundaries

copyright, trademark, and patent laws differ

some countries don't want to allow anonymous postings on the Internet

privacy laws differ greatly around the world; Europe has much tougher
privacy laws than the U.S.

whose law applies: the country where the consumer/client is, the country where
the owner of the business/organization is located, the country where the hardware
is located?

dealing with different time zones alone can be a big problem, especially when employees
are dispersed around the world and try to hold online meetings; India and Australia have
offset their time zones by half an hour; one time zone in Australia is even offset
another fifteen minutes; China, which is about as wide as the U.S. has only one time zone

changes in daylight savings time and differing holidays are also very confusing

International Web/Global IS design issues

some countries have limited bandwidth, but pictures, audio, and video
take up a lot of bandwidth, so consider alternatives that are primarily
text based (so they are at least available)

character sets for languages vary widely, but Unicode can accommodate all
of them if a site (or application) is designed using it from the ground up

automatic translators for languages still aren't very good; using
babelfish.altavista.com/tr to
translate "How are you doing today?" into Japanese and back into English
gives us the phrase "How today it has done?"

One more translation example: "What do you think you are doing?" becomes
"What it has done, you think?"

One more translation example: "He is a jack of all trades." becomes
"He is the house with anything."

alternate versions of websites are perhaps the best way to deal with multiple
languages, but that takes a lot more work

images (icons) may make a website more accessible without having to use as much
specific language

some cultures are used to reading right-to-left, but most information on the web
is designed to be viewed from left-to-right